The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said it expects the industry to rebound in the second half of the year despite the Covid-19 pandemic, its president Jojo Uligan said in a virtual press conference Thursday, May 7.
Uligan pointed out that most of the business volume of the industry comes during the third and fourth quarters of the year. He added while it is undeniable that Covid-19 and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) impacted the volume of calls from industries such as airlines and tourism, business volume continues to grow in online retail and logistics as there are more people now ordering online.
Uligan said they have not heard from CCAP members of any plans to reduce the number of their employees as there are now more tasks that require people. In any case, he said the industry can balance this out by getting people from sections where the volume went down.
CCAP board director Tonichi Parekh said BPO companies can continue to hire people with recruitment activities done online and via social media platforms. “While recruiting activities slowed down in March because of the lockdown, it went back to normal levels in April,” Parekh said.
In fact, Uligan said companies are expanding their operations despite the pandemic. “We have new logos coming up despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Uligan said the industry was targeting to grow by 4 percent to 5 percent. “We need to look at our revenue projection or, and make adjustments on revenue projection based on the effect of Covid-19,” he said.
The group will also review the industry’s job generation this year with new work arrangements due to the ECQ and general community quarantine (GCQ) protocols, he added.
“Last year I think, we generated about 77,000 [jobs]. We’re adding about 70,000 to 90,000 this year but we’ll have to revisit that target,” Uligan said, adding that 30 percent to 35 percent of BPO employees are currently working from home due to the lockdown. — Kris Crismundo (PNA)
